Category:Caesarea Maritima (subject)

Caesarea Maritima was a seaport on the Mediterranean.

History

The seaport of Caesarea, originally a small fortified Phoenician anchorage named Strabo's Tower, was built in the 1st century BCE by Herod the Great and renamed in honor of Augustus. Its artificial harbor was one of the technical wonders of antiquity.

After 6 CE Caesarea was used by the Romans as the capital of the province of Judea and the seat of the Roman Governors.

Christian sources refers to Caesarea as a place where the new faith was preached by Philip and Peter, and as the port of arrival and departure of Paul's journeys. Caesarea was also the place where Paul was in custody for two years under Felix and Festus, before being sent to Rome.

Caesarea remained under Roman control during the Jewish War. It was there that Vespasian was acclaimed emperor by his own legions.

Later developments

Herod's harbor was severely damaged c150 CE by an earthquake, but the city still flourished during the Byzantine period, becoming one of the major centers of Christianity in the East. Caesarea declined rapidly after the Islamic conquest. Louis IX of France built there a short-lived Crusader fortress. After the Muslim reconquest, Caesarea laid in ruins, only to be used to resettle a small group of Circassian and Bosnian refugees in the 1870s and 1880s.

Excavations of ancient Caeserea have been carried out starting from the 1950s. They have unearthed conspicuous remains of Roman Caesarea, including the ancient theater with the renowned inscription carrying the name of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate.

Today Caesarea is a popular archaeological site, visited by thousands of tourists.

Caesarea in ancient sources

Acts of Apostles

Acts.8.40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. Acts.9.30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

Acts.10.1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, Acts.10.24 And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. Acts.11.11 And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea.

Acts.12.19 And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.

Acts.18.22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. Acts.21.8 On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. Acts.21.16 And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge. Acts.23.23 Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night. Acts.23.33 When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him.

Acts.25.1 Now three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. Acts.25.4 Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly. Acts.25.6 After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. Acts.25.13 Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Berenice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus.

Caesarea in Scholarship

Caesarea in Fiction

Related categories

• Herod the Great (subject)
• Roman Governors (subject) / Pilate (subject) / Felix (subject) / Festus (subject) / Paul of Tarsus (subject)

External links

• Wikipedia